By Megan Erbacher, The Message editor
During his homily at the Dec. 23, 2025, Mass of Christian Burial for Rev. Leo C. Kiesel, Father Anthony “Tony” Kissel, senior priest of the diocese, said Father Leo wasn’t just an acquaintance or colleague.
“He was a loyal friend. … He knew how to give,” Father Kissel said. “He knew how to share. He knew how to work through conflict. He was very considerate and very forgiving.”
On Dec. 23, 2025, Bishop Joseph M. Siegel celebrated Father Kiesel’s Mass of Christian Burial at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Loogootee. Concelebrants included more than 40 priests of the Diocese of Evansville.
Mourners filled the pews of St. John to pay their respects to Father Kiesel, 88, who died Dec. 20, 2025, at The Villages of Oak Ridge. He was ordained a priest March 30, 1963, in Innsbruck, Austria. He was a faithful servant of the Diocese of Evansville in many ways before he retired from active ministry Jan. 1, 2003.
Father Kissel, who served as homilist for the Mass, said all were gathered to celebrate the “great gift of Leo to us.” The two met when Father Kiesel was a newly ordained priest and assistant at St. Mary Church in Downtown Evansville, and they maintained their friendship throughout the years.
Father Kissel shared a story of when Father Kiesel invited him and Father Timothy Tenbarge to travel out West, so they “set out in his Plymouth Valiant.” While Father Kiesel was a thorough planner, there was quiet laughter as Father Kissel shared that the tent they slept in didn’t have a bottom to it, and after a mishap with their rations, they dined on pork and beans, which Father Kissel admitted he no longer eats.
“It was an awesome experience, an awesome adventure,” he recalled.
Father Kissel continued his homily by noting Father Kiesel was a friend to many. When Father Kissel moved to teach theology near Tampa, Father Kiesel was the first to help him find a place to live, and he even helped paint cabinets.
“He was truly, truly a friend,” he said. “He was the heart and soul of the American-Innsbruck Alumni Association for many years. … He was the glue of the association.”
In a way, Father Kissel said that Father Kiesel gave his last sermon through the readings he chose for his Mass of Christian Burial.
“The readings he chose tell us so much about his commitment to ministry,” he said. “With 1 Jeremiah, (Father Kiesel) shares with us that God called him from the beginning of birth, and God gave him the strength to preach the word, the message of the kingdom of God. In 1 John, he shares with us that we don’t so much love God … God loves us first. He gives us the grace, the strength to be his ministers, to preach his word.”
Father Kissel continued, “Leo was humble. He knew where his strength came. … My dear friends, Leo has been a good, faithful servant of the lord. He’s been a good, good preacher of God’s Word. He’s been a good fisherman of mankind.
“The heart of Jesus spoke to Leo, and Leo shared that love, that mercy, that saving message over the years.”
At the end of Mass, Bishop Siegel offered condolences to Father Kiesel’s family and friends. He noted that Father Kiesel’s “yes” to the Lord allowed the Lord to work through him, so that he might bring Christ to the world through his ministry of preaching, teaching and through the celebration of the sacraments.
Bishop Siegel offered thanks for Father Kiesel and how he impacted the lives of many people, and he asked the Lord to raise up other young men to serve in that same spirit, to give their yes to the Lord and allow the Lord to work through them to bring Christ to our world today.
We pray together for Father Leo, Bishop Siegel said, as we come to the last farewell. There is sadness in parting, he noted, but we take comfort in the hope that one day we shall see Father Leo again and enjoy his friendship.
Bishop Siegel then offered a final blessing over Father Kiesel.
Interment followed the Mass at St. John Catholic Cemetery in Loogootee. All were then invited to a “Meal of Celebration” after interment in the St. John Center.
“Rest in peace, my dear friend,” Father Kissel said in conclusion of his homily. “You’ve been a good fisherman, a good shepherd.”